If you’re thinking about displaying a lost, stolen or forged parking permit this year at Kansas University, you might want to think again.

The parking department has increased the fine for displaying a faulty permit to $100 from $65. In addition to the fine, a student will be charged a $30 towing fee and have their parking privileges revoked for one year.

Some students will use chicanery to get out of buying parking permits. Several have scanned in friends’ parking permits or old parking permits and tried to alter them with computer software.

These permits are often caught when a parking department officer notices something strange about the number on the permit or the color of the permit.

“Officers work in a certain area and they get used to seeing certain things,” said Donna Hultine, parking department director. “They know cars that belong there.”

Hultine has been amazed by some of the fake parking permits. She challenges everyone on her staff to look for them.

“Some of them are so clever, I don’t even know how they do it,” Hultine said. “It seems like every year we try to do something to stay one step ahead of them.”

This year the permits will have a large hologram running on the side that will be more difficult to forge, Hultine said.

Even if you have a valid parking permit, finding a spot on campus is usually a frustrating exercise. All of the different permits are oversold.

The yellow student lots have 5,637 total spaces. Last year, 7,714 permits for yellow lots were sold, a 37 percent oversell. All student and residence hall parking permits are $85.

The parking lot at Gertrude Sellards Pearson and Corbin residence halls at 11th and Indiana streets was oversold by 41 percent last year. Several residents parked at Memorial Stadium in overflow parking.

Hultine said because these residence halls are built on a hill, there is no place to build more parking.

Another crowded parking area is the Daisy Hill area near the residence halls on west campus. The department will be offering students who live in Daisy Hill residence hall the option to buy a $50 Lied Center-only permit next year.

“This is in recognition that some students buy the Daisy Hill permit and never get to park there,” Hultine said. “This gives them the option of saving money right off the bat.”

Students who commute to campus have the option of buying a Park and Ride permit, where they park at the Lied Center and ride a bus to campus. The permit, which includes a bus pass (see page 18), is $130. Students who are not on campus for very long may want to park at the Allen Fieldhouse or Mississippi Street garages. It costs $1 an hour to park in these garages. Toll is collected 24 hours a day Monday through Friday at both garages.